Introduction
The food packaging market is growing with the increasing demand for packaged food. The causes of the growth include the reason below
- The increasing urban population leads to growing consumption of food
- Consumers tend to buy more food with packages today.
- Increased consumption of processed food and takeaways
- Demand for longer shelf-life of the food
As a result, there are chances for the food packaging industry today.
To discuss more on this topic, let’s go deeper into the food market by segments.
Food packaging market today
The global food packaging market size was expected to reach an amount of over USD 300 billion.
On the other hand, the development of food packaging products has never stopped, in order to meet the needs of customers.
The global food packaging market size is estimated at USD 303.26 billion in 2019, growing at a CAGR of 5.2% during the forecast period.
Growing consumer demand for packaged food due to the faster pace of life and changing dietary habits is expected to have a significant impact on the market.
The product offers extended and consistent shelf life, high barrier performance, and safety, thereby contributing to the growth of the market.
Factors such as convenience and the use of high-performance materials are expected to aid the growth of the industry.
The expected increase in shelf life and increased efficiency in preventing contamination of contents is expected to boost the market growth.
In addition, factors such as increasing population, rising disposable income, and shrinking households are also positively influencing the market.
The market in the U.S. is expected to be driven by the increasing urban population, increasing consumption of packaged foods, and the popularity of single-serve packaging. Increasing recycling infrastructure for plastic, metal, and glass is also supporting the market, however, concerns over waste due to improper packaging may hamper its growth.
The evolution of food packaging products today is mainly based on the following features: easy opening, portable to use, and sanitary conditions.
As a result, the requirements for packaging production have become more and more restricted.
Among the various factors, packaging materials play a decisive role.
By 2027, the food packaging market is expected to be worth US$466.91 billion, with a compound annual growth rate of 6.17% during the forecast period (2021-2027), and the market value in 2020 is US$310.8 billion.
In order to extend the shelf life of food and ensure the protection of travel and door-to-door food, the market plays a vital role.
Good food packaging can protect food and attract more customers, thereby increasing market share in the global market.
The increase in changing lifestyles has also led to market growth in the global market.
Today, people prefer processed foods or packaged foods because they can be stored for a long time and are easy to use.
With the transition from rural to urban areas, the market is expected to grow further.
COVID 19 analysis
The situation of the COVID 19 global pandemic has adversely affected people’s lives. People must deal with the financial crisis and health problems at the same time. The outbreak of the global pandemic pushed the economy into a forced recession, which led to financial crises in various countries. The situation during the lock-up and post-lock-up period has led to the closure of multiple manufacturing units around the world, resulting in a decline in revenue and a decline in profit margins.
It is expected that during the forecast period, the market will recover from this global epidemic before the end of the second quarter of the following year.
Some companies even shut down their businesses permanently. In this difficult period, with the help of various government policies in favor of them, companies are slowly recovering from losses.
Competitive landscape
The most prominent main players in the food packaging market in the global market are as follows:
Amcor Limited (Australia)
Coveris Holdings S.A. (Luxembourg)
The Smurfit Kappa Group plc (Republic of Ireland)
- du Pont de Nemours and Company (United States)
Mondi Plc (Austria)
Bemis Company, Inc. (United States)
International Paper Company (United States)
- Smith Company (UK.)
Silgan Holdings Inc. (United States)
Rock-Tenn Company (United States)
These most famous market participants establish new units in potential markets through cooperation, mergers and acquisitions and cooperation, new product development, and development in the production process, thereby using various strategies and policies to expand their customer base.
Market dynamics
Driver
The market is accelerating due to various factors, such as changing trends in professionalism and material advancement, changing trends in processed foods, and adopting various strategies that contribute to the growth of the global market.
Due to the continuous advancement in the technical field, the growth of the market is increasing. Now, the ever-changing lifestyle and more demand for packaged food have led to an increase in the demand for the market in the global market.
Chance
Due to various growth opportunities in the global market during the forecast period, the market is growing at an alarming rate.
Due to the use of antibacterial packaging technology that helps to extend the shelf life, food packaging technology continues to improve packaging foods, even perishable foods. In addition, due to increasingly fierce competition strategies among major players in emerging countries, the market shows various growth opportunities during the forecast period.
Constraint
The global market is growing rapidly, but certain factors limit the growth of the global market, such as fluctuations in the prices of raw materials used in the food packaging industry.
Therefore, higher raw material costs hinder the growth rate. In addition, the main material used in the food packaging industry is plastic, which is a non-biodegradable material.
The governments of various emerging countries have issued strict regulations on the use of the market to limit the growth of the packaging market.
Value chain analysis
Due to the various benefits associated with it, the market is growing at an alarming rate. For example, it can protect food from external dust and extend the shelf life of food. Packaged food also improves hygiene factors.
Packaged food also contains all the important information about the product’s manufacturing and expiry date, as well as a list of ingredients, which will also help raise their awareness of what they eat.
Market segmentation
The food packaging market in the global market has been divided according to applications and types.
Food packaging market by materials
Generally, popular materials for food packaging products today are mainly
- Paper and board
- Rigid and flexible plastic
- Glass
- Metal
1. Paper and board on the current food packaging market
Paper-based packaging materials have become one of the favorite packaging products. As a matter of fact, more and more people start to adopt paper and paper-based packaging products. After all, paper bags and boxes get their reputation as the biodegradable solution with the household name.
And because of that, many expect a growth of the packaging market of paper and paper-based material.
The segment generated a revenue share of 31.9% of the total food packaging market in 2019.
2. Rigid and flexible plastics on the current food packaging market
For a long time, the packaging products of plastic materials play a key role in the packaging industry. Although the traditional plastic packaging materials are not as eco-friendly as the paper-based packaging materials. Still, they are on the service line in many aspects today. After all, the low price brings them a bunch of fans, which makes them popular until now.
Meanwhile, plastic packaging products have unique advantages over others. You can tell them with your own experiences, such as excellent sealing capacity and high water-proof performance.
Moreover, the application of eco-friendly technology has extended the life circle of plastic materials. With the feature of recycling, biodegradability, and compostability.
Want to know more about biodegradability and compostability? Also, read More about Biodegradable Packaging.
All these factors cause another rapid growth in the plastic food packaging market.
3. Glass on the current food packaging market
Glass packaging for food is commonly seen almost everywhere, from the shelf in a supermarket to the compartment of the refrigerator at home. The popularity results from the high-performance of fresh-keeping ability combined with its non-corrosive nature. Also, glass material is recyclable and non-sensitive to chemicals.
All these features make it a desirable packaging material for food preservation and direct food contact.
Therefore, an estimation of USD 43.5 billion by 2027 for the glass material segment.
4. Metal on the current food packaging market
Metal packaging for food? It might look weird at first glance. But think twice, you will probably find them common and familiar.
Usually, metal packaging is widely used for canned food such as meat, fish, and fruits.
There are times you worry about the life span of the food, or just too busy to grab the ingredients for cooking from the market. In these cases, a couple of canned food helps you from starving your stomach.
Metal packaging stands out among the others with the ability to extend the shelf-life of food products and preserve the nutrition of food.
Hereby the market growth of the metal packaging segment, not so fast as that of other segments above though.
In conclusion, the growth of the paper packaging market takes first place in the material segment.
Applications
If you look at the packaging market by the segments of applications. You probably find out the wide usage of packaging solutions in the industry below.
- Bakeryand Confectionery
- Dairy products
- Fruits and vegetables
- Meat and seafood
1. Bakery and Confectionery
Bakery and confectionery require packaging with moisture-proof material with high-level performance. Because moisture is the killer of bakery and confectionery products, which will largely shorten their shelf life.
At the same time, the price is another key factor to consider. Flexible packaging has excellent moisture-proof performance. Lower prices over paper and metal materials combined with the feature of lightweight.
Above all, flexible packaging takes an advantaged place over the other packaging solutions.
2. Dairy products
Dairy products can be a necessity for every family. The constant demand for dairy products boosts the growth of the packaging market.
On the other hand, the designs of the packaging have become more and more attractive to customers. Sometimes, you may pick up a bottle of milk or a piece of yogurt for their appealing packaging.
And all these deeds definitely contribute to the market growth of packaging products for the dairy industry.
3. Fruits and vegetables
The segment of fruit and vegetable packaging has been growing recently. An important reason among the others can be the rising awareness of health.
To get more vitamins in your daily meals, you want to fetch some fruits in the supermarket. And you want them packed in a clean bag best eco-friendly materials. Because you want your food preserved in a place with protection rather than being exposed for hours in the public area.
Now, you realize that you are one of the contributors to the growing market share for fruits and vegetable packaging.
4. Meat and seafood
The increasing demand for meat and seafood has led to the growth of the packaging market for this segment. As well as that of dairy products, you probably need them every day unless you are a vegetarian or vegan.
Moreover, meat is one of the things you usually find in popular healthy eating habit suggestions.
For all these reasons, the packaging market for meat and seafood grows at a rapid pace.
Regional diversity
- Asia-Pacific
- North America
- Europe
1. The food packaging market in Asia-Pacific
The Asia Pacific is estimated to be the largest market with 37% of the total market share in 2019.
Among the countries in this region, China is the largest contributor. Because Chinese consumers have more purchasing power today, as a result of the increase in the middle-class population.
Meanwhile, the Indian market is growing the fastest due to the increasing usage of food packaging products.
2. The food packaging market in North America
When it comes to North America, the packaging market growth is more a result of the thriving retail industry. And the large consumption of packaged food is another reason for the market growth.
3. The food packaging market in Europe
The European food packaging market shows a positive pose expectedly. Although the domestic market has reached a saturation level.
Export business in the region will pretty much propel another growth of the packaging industry. One of the key reasons is the free-trade policy in Europe.
Paper food packaging – the trend
As a result of various factors, the paper packaging market has been growing at a rapid pace.
Among the other causes, the prevailing habit of buying eco-friendly products is the key one. More and more people and industries start to use and produce paper food packaging.
Why? Because paper food packaging has a lot of benefits. Being friendly to the environment is the critical one among the others.
1. Paper packaging is eco-friendly
For a long time, the overuse of plastics has greatly damaged the environment. And the pain still continues today. You can easily find the evidence in just a bit of time. As a citizen in the village of earth, the environment matters to every one of us.
Honestly, our living conditions could have been better without the abuse of plastic at a time. But fortunately, the awareness of environmental protection has become increasingly popular with society.
As a result, more and more consumers are looking for ways to improve our environment. They try their best to seek eco-friendly products and reduce the use of non-biodegradable materials. The adoption of paper food packaging is the witness.
2. Paper packaging is multi-functional
You can use paper-based packaging in many cases today. This is another reason to use it as an alternative to plastics. Paper packaging might not be so popular as it is today because it could easily get damaged. But thanks to modern technology, paper-based packaging has become increasingly strong and durable. You probably find your cardboard box still stands upright after handling several heavy loads.
Also, they are recyclable. After the main paper material finishes its missions in the frontline, the leftover pieces continue the cycle. Scrap paper is the raw material of a variety of products such as fiber-board, paper sacks, wrapping paper, and more.
Moreover, many companies are adopting and developing paper-based bottles as containers for coffee, soft drinks, and other beverages. You can easily find paper coffee cups when you try to get some coffee in many coffee shops today.
At the same time, the usage of paper bags to keep dry foods has become prevalent such as coffee, tea leaves, snack food and nuts, cookies and candy, and spices. Because paper-based materials can keep the freshness of the food by “keeping their breath”.
All in all, this trend of paper packaging continues and could be a competitive alternative over the other packaging solutions.
3. Paper packaging is lighter
Due to its lightweight, shipping a load of goods packed by paper packaging requires much less energy.
With the contribution of advanced technology, paper packaging today can handle more situations than it used to be which enables a paper container to stay longer in the service line and offers better protection for the goods. Therefore, less demand for a second container to load the cargo.
In other words, you can save your shipping cost and keep more money in your bank account.
You will find more benefits of the paper packaging solution as the trend continues.
Conclusion
Thanks to the growing trend of the global packaging market, the packaging industry has got more chances. Companies dealing with paper packaging and other eco-friendly are likely to earn the most benefits.
Despite the constant change, the market winners always share the characters in common. They never stop their pace to develop and show more care in our community.
In terms of environmental protection, PrimePac continues to do with the best effort.
Paper food packaging in PrimePac
We contribute by the continuous investment in the production line of paper food packaging. PrimePac has established a reputation among our customers through creative designs and the application of modern technology.
Click to know more about our paper packaging products. Customers adopt our paper-based packaging solutions in various applications. Food & beverages, health care, and pet care are the most common ones.